Acoustic Kitty and Bat Bombs: Citation Needed 6x05

"That is horrific," says Matt at one point during this episode. He's not wrong. We delve into unconventional Cold War tactics, and some surprising - and doomed - members of the animal kingdom.
BONUS MATERIAL: • Gary's Cat Clothing: C...
FULL PLAYLIST: • Citation Needed, from ...
WEB SITE and MORE AUDIO EPISODES: techdif.co.uk

[@TomScottGo]

If you're wondering why the introduction's shorter this week, so am I. Apparently I just forgot to read it and no-one noticed.

[@anttrappin9715]

Tom Scott yes u right but its wired

[@DanielStarbuck]

Tom Scott, the bonus material link in the description links to the last episodes bonus material, just thought you'd like to know. btw, is it bad that i knew everything covered on this episode already? if i was playing it would have been the shortest episode of citation needed ever because id have segqeyed to the connected topics anyway haha

[@ode_ollie4800]

the right link is in the end of the video

[@TomScottGo]

Fixed, thank you!

[@Jcdlf7]

can you be a player in one of these game? +Tom Scott

[@chlojo]

Matt saying “espionage?” is in exactly the same tone as “panthers?”

[@KalikiDoom]

NICE!

[@PQRDG]

And now the lighthouse keeper’s cat became a tool of espionage, only to defect to join the Russians

[@NotKyleChicago]

Well, Will did steal Matt's powers before saying "panthers?", so it makes sense. 😉

[@joshyoung1440]

It might be also in a questioning tone, but the timbre is definitely VERY different, and I wouldn't call it exactly the same.

[@joshyoung1440]

I only say that because I literally just watched the panthers episode directly before this one so it's fresh lmao

[@kayewh7274]

Acoustic *_Panthers?_*

[@MrKcspot]

Reilly Helber of course the only thing that was missing was him in the back ready to just say it

[@andytroo]

hrm, i appear to have read this comment with a specific accent not present in this video

[@iLikeTheUDK]

Reilly Helber I nearly choked omg

[@ridrexw8069]

20 men, 10 women, 1 panther all in 1 enclosed space with a bomb timed to go off in 30 days

[@alansmithee419]

@@ridrexw8069 I think the panther would quickly be bludgeoned to death with a few casualties. After that the rest would just die of thirst.

[@ShubhamBhushanCC]

Bats Insufficiently motivated. I imagined the great Alan Rickman saying that in way that only he could.

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

Oh that would have made Die Hard ten times better.

[@emdivine]

I was just about to reply "Somebody tweet him or something!", but then I remembered :(

[@zJoriz]

This works really well. Thanks.

[@crystals-r2551]

Oh wow. I can H E A R it. How do i italicize on mobile?

[@dbseamz]

Anyone else read that in the same tone as "Turn to page 394"?

[@vale.antoni]

The dogs associated the image of food with the general looks of the T-34 and - more importantly - with the sound and smell of the diesel engine powering them. The one massive problem was that Panzers ran on petrol. I would dare to assume that the only visual clue they remembered from the tanks is it's a big metal box. The sound and smell are more impactful, when it comes to triggering senses of dogs, and forming associations.

[@EjvindGEMDark]

Cats in space with antennas? I guess you'd call that a Catellite.

[@kamioshla5563]

Apparently Matt has another account

[@intelligentshitpastinginc]

It would have to orbit around a planet to count as a satellite.

[@ethanchou4906]

Today. Is pun CATastrophe.

[@dirm12]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpa7m2xtqNmVfZo

[@WafflePlaneRC]

"well spot was all over it by the end of it" oh oh no

[@joebleasdale5557]

Low Elevation RC I grew up with Spot- you're not wrong

[@q-tuber7034]

Chris would have deserved biscuits for that one

[@andreyrumming6842]

I absolutely love how long it takes Tom to realize what was said about parachuting in a cat 8:11

[@VWatch07]

That gap between what Gary said and Tom realizing it is simply lovely!

[@unexpected2475]

His final reaction is utterly priceless as well.

[@MultiPwolf]

Just imagine a group of Russians engaging in secretive talks when suddenly a dead fish lands right next to them and in hobbles a little cat with a flashing red diode and a little antenna behind its ear.

[@salty4640]

You think they would try to train the cat BEFORE IMPLANTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT IN IT.

[@ryanmurray5973]

Like flags that say what the cat means, held on by recycled orange juice carton pieces?

[@nicktheloser2974]

Nah mate, this is America we're talking about.

[@MySerpentine]

Good luck with training a cat to do much of anything.

[@AgentTasmania]

@@nicktheloser2974 The Intelligence / military branches at that.

[@AlexanderNash]

Welcome to the baffling world of arrogance.

[@98kartik]

'Elevated kitty' would surely be the codename for testing LSD on cats?

[@gwest3644]

No, that would be the infamous Project MEOWKULTRA

[@topicvideosguy]

What's weird is that Gary's idea of a cat holding up flags actually exists, sorta. People have successfully trained their pets to press buttons with recordings on them, so if they want food they press the "food" button and it will say "food", etc. Edit 4/19/23: I've just noticed the typo a year later. "so if want food"

[@ericvilas]

Why did the cat cross the border? To work for the other side.

[@petrelli231]

Can we get this weekly on the BBC, please?

[@Septimus_ii]

Rex Hernández it's pretty much infinite material, so I could happily watch it weekly

[@jacob8565]

I think it is more Dave material

[@AmedeeVanGasse]

Can we not? Because then I would have to do all kinds of stuff with a VPN to watch it on BBC Iplayer. Keep it on KZbin where it is available for everyone on the planet.

[@michael_gibbs]

@@AmedeeVanGasse Not North Korea.

[@SylviaRustyFae]

@@AmedeeVanGasse Why not both!? Why does it have to be an exclusivity contract with BBC?

[@BreezedLightning]

Can you imagine what would happen if the Citation Needed crew (Tom, Chris, Gary, Matt, and Will, maybe another person) did a Dungeons & Dragons (or other tabletop RPG) campaign? (Then again, Tom would be pressed for time making something like that. Maybe Will could be the Game Master instead?)

[@piccolomaniac]

I've always thought of Tom as the beleaguered DM whose players are constantly starting bar fights, seducing dragons, and trying to summon Outer Gods.

[@LeoYoshi54321]

Will as DM: You enter a room, full of *panthers* . I don't know where I was going with this

[@btd5ninja64]

@@piccolomaniac hmmmm all of them sound llike will doing it though

[@tiptapdrats8454]

Solution: Tom is the Wizard that holds the 1 Brain Cell of the Party

[@SylviaRustyFae]

@@LeoYoshi54321 I read that second line in his voice still

[@JaxMerrick]

This whole episode keeps reminding me of the book Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, which is essentially an alternate World War 1 but the Central powers use steampunk mechs and the Entente powers use modified organic beings. One of the fabricated animals were flechette bats: bats that have a more durable digestive tract that consume a feed that has large amounts of flechettes in it. Guided by certain colored lights, they fly over a target, and when a certain other color was shone, the bats "drop their payload" over said target. Yes, the bats get scared shitless and crap out tiny darts onto whatever they happen to be flying above.

[@TheGameFilmGuruMan]

There's another series, the Silverwing Trilogy by Kenneth Oppel which actually has the bats from this experiment planning to take over the world XD

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

Heck yes, that was an awesome series. I loved the two-board six-legged dogs that the sailors would use to inspect the living dirigible for gas leaks.

[@jamesharding3459]

@@lawrencecalablaster568 I found the various walking machines cooler, battleships on land is just such a cool aesthetic.

[@AwesomeFish921]

This was probably one of the funniest episodes yet, great stuff XD Incidentally, when Matt brought up the subject of bats evolving incendiary bombs and Tom's rebuttal of "That's not how evolution works", I was reminded of what are effectively termite suicide bombers. There's one species of termite which, upon their mound being attacked, run up to whatever's attacking them and explode, covering everything in extremely sticky goo! Dammit, Darwin.

[@annacatton5929]

"When this termite goes off, it's Mr Lindt all over again..."

[@Leffrey]

Is the sticky goo flammable? In which case thermite termites

[@jamesharding3459]

@@Leffrey Miniaturized in a lab, so thermite termite nanites?

[@AlexanderNash]

Ahh you see, a mound. A colony to protect, with hierarchal classes that include soldiers which could reasonably expected to sacrifice themselves for the good of the queen. Especially be cause only choicest males reproduce anyways. Please apologize to Darwin for your incomplete understanding of eusocial organisms.

[@OlegDorbitt]

Didn't Chris say "Tell that to the bombardier beetle" right after?

[@lavandereisly4194]

In defense of Gary, there's cats that have been trained to use buttons that say various words to communicate.

[@peterfireflylund]

No, they just hit them at random.

[@elisam.r.9960]

@@peterfireflylund Dunno. BilliSpeaks has a lot of clips where the cat has a plan for pressing the buttons.

[@mirjanbouma]

​@@peterfireflylund They do not. It's very clearly intentional if you look at them more than 30 seconds before replying.

[@peterfireflylund]

@@mirjanbouma do you also believe in God and Santa?

[@mirjanbouma]

@@peterfireflylund no, im not you.

[@pretendingpro]

Denial of Service Dog.

[@IceMetalPunk]

No, that's what happens when you have too many people petting the same dog, so he just lays down for belly rubs instead of helping the blind person XD

[@aiden5343]

DDOSDog? DOSdog? DDog?

[@verymuchgoodgaming132]

Appl Tom I assume this is a reference to the DEFCON talk.

[@pretendingpro]

it is.

[@VoidSixx]

Dog for Denial Of Service

[@Zelmel]

This episode makes me miss this format, even though I know the guys were tired of it.

[@TotoDG]

I love how much time it took for Tom to process "parachuted in".

[@Asocial-Canine]

i'm just realising now, Gary's cat sign idea is exactly what some folks do with buttons that say things. And they don't even need nails!

[@funnymoss-man]

Fun fact about the bat bomb: it was meant to be used against Japan, where quite a few of the buildings at the time were traditional buildings made mostly out of flammable materials like wood and paper. The idea was that the bats would roost in the attics of the houses, and after a few hours the timers attached to the incendiary devices would go off, (hopefully) resulting in the city going up in flames.

[@acarrot9868]

Brannan was right, the RAF once para-dropped cats in Borneo to solve an outbreak of the plague.

[@fisch37]

Somehow I feel Gary Brannan being called "everyone's favourite Gary Brannan" is one of those phrases that theoretically are compliments but in practice really isn't...

[@Nazuiko]

tbf hes possibly my favorite Gary

[@Enchet0]

Well I think that it probably is true, how many famous popular Gary brannans can exist?

[@marianoxerez]

18:15 In chilean spanish we call a car jack "gato" or "gata" which also translates as the animal "cat".

[@Septimus_ii]

Mariano Xerez is that just a coincidence, or so you actually call it a car cat?

[@crystals-r2551]

Mexican spanish does this as well

[@adamweishaupt3733]

I'm disappointed no one knew about or thought to mention St. Olga of Kiev in relation to the incendiary bats. St. Olga supposedly demanded a rebellious village give her 3 birds from each house, attached burning sulfur to their legs, and released them, at which point they flew home and burned down the entire village.

[@nolategame6367]

Are you sure that's a *saint*

[@mk_rexx]

@@nolategame6367 Yes, same time period as St. Jerry the Goatfucker (Sam O'nella reference from a video of the same topic)

[@madmanwithaplan1826]

Weirdly gary had a working prototype for pet talk buttons there.

[@Qhran]

The moment when you know exactly what Tom has found and explain it in perfect detail and just wait for that "Mystery Biscuit" to be played, and then you get disappointed when you realise "Oh yeah... not on the show"...

[@peterweatherley7669]

10:03 Chris never fails to spot Matt’s puns miles before the other two ;)

[@dliessmgg]

One of the few episodes where I knew more than half of the things in advance. Don't know what that says about me.

[@vaclav_fejt]

Me too. And all my sources were some TV documentaries and a WWII Horrible Histories book by Terry Deary.

[@peterknutsen3070]

I knew about the dogs from Harry Turtledove, the bats from somewhere (likely QI), and the pigeon thing from a 1960s Danish spy movie.

[@2dividedby3equals666]

Mythbusters had an episode with a segment on the pigeon bomb.

[@metropod]

Also, should anyone be wondering, the idea of the bat bomb (so hard not to type "Batman and Robin" there) was the bats would be asleep on a series of racks in a bomb casing. each bat would have their incendiary device attached to them. the plane would drop the payload, the casing would fall away, the racks would open, activating a timer on the incendiary and the bats would fly off to find somewhere to roost. the general idea was to use this against the Japanese home islands due to the fact that the vast majority of buildings were then still wooden.

[@entropiCCycles]

I also remember hearing that they had to put the bats in a freezer to induce hibernation in order to load the bats into those racks. And that most of the bats used in test drops did not exit hibernation and just hit the ground below.

[@timothymclean]

​@@entropiCCycles "Bats insufficiently motivated...try a higher temperature." But yeah, bats are better than just dropping a swarm of tiny incendiary bombs because they get into places without getting noticed. Whether or not this counters the practical and ethical issues around using the bats is debatable, but there's method to their madness.

[@smeggerknee2448]

whereas ....the easiest lowtech solution....explosive on a timer .... attached to a "weather balloon"....released into the slipstream.... although this could not be properly aimed....the yanks couldn't fly high enough during WW2 to shoot them down before they could get above mainland usa.

[@jeremysmith7176]

@@smeggerknee2448 However the Brits used balloons much more successfully

[@jamesl8640]

After what matt whispers at about 7:00 I really hope no one has ever asked him to look after their cat while they go on holiday

[@TheMattman1313]

You sure Matt didn't win a Mitsubishi Sushi?

[@Septimus_ii]

Or a Suzuki Sushi

[@matthewparker9276]

A Mitsusushi

[@ThomasWinget]

Some time you should start releasing these uncut and unlisted, linked to in the description like the bonus material. I think many of us would like that.

[@rin_etoware_2989]

a lot of the content there might be potentially libellous, i think

[@patricia5617]

i really like the joke about the jack elevating the kitty because that kind of jack in spain is called "gato" (cat)

[@DataCab1e]

I think the Today I Found Out channel is watching Citation Needed for topics. Last week they did "The Trials and Tribulations of 1904 Olympic Marathon Runners," and today it's "Pigeon Guided Missiles and Literal Bat Bombs."

[@JaxMerrick]

And on this morning's episode, the *Bonus Fact* is about the Acoustic Kitty.

[@CraftQueenJr]

Knowing who largely writes those, I’m unsurprised.

[@Flatrocker512]

Chris saying, "distractionate" was probably an accidental nod to the old Technical Difficulties TV show. There was a "distractionator" during The Battle of the Beer.

[@peterstratton4616]

I actually knew about this, and I don't know how

[@Speederzzz]

Peter Stratton same

[@user-lb9vt2pi4t]

GMM?

[@Cross31415]

QI. That's where you knew it from.

[@retroskater111]

I'm trying to think whether or not it was on an episode of QI

[@LiruJenkins]

It was mentioned in QI I believe.

[@mtty1988]

Park bench all it recorded was 2 blogging men rambling about nothing

[@barryallen808]

MYSTERY BISCUITS!

[@intelligentshitpastinginc]

I was disappointed nobody made that joke on the show.

[@andymcl92]

So nobody thought to call it Project Pigeon Dropping then?

[@vaclav_fejt]

PPD was already a submachine gun in SSSR.

[@vtario5]

"And on that bombshell, I'm afraid it's time to end." I didn't realise this was a car show.

[@pitbox6497]

I'm in love with this series. It's half past midnight, I've got to get up at half six, and I don't care because I've got a new episode of Citation Needed to watch.

[@metropod]

less than four minutes in and I can't continue. I need a break to calm down.

[@kiro9291]

same, I had to pause and howl in laughter for 10 minutes straight

[@rawovunlapin8201]

metropod I laughed straight through it

[@NoNameAtAll2]

Panther?

[@crassenti]

I know right? I'm only at 3:07 and I'm nearly wetting myself and biting my lip to keep from laughing so loud I disturb my coworkers :) I love this show

[@THB192]

metropod that's how you can tell it'll be a good episode.

[@crispoman]

They were unable to parachute the cat in, as they had a fe-line rather than a static line.

[@coenisgreat]

Technically the idea with the bat bombs (or at least, one other part of it) was that when dropped around or on the mostly-wooden Japanese cities, they would roost during the day in the roof beams and other dark hidden areas of the houses, so that the timed explosives strapped to them (which was filled with napalm) would easily set light to them in a manner far more precise and widespread than that of traditionally firebombing the town in question, because it would ignore firebreaks. The idea was proven to be successful and was ready for battlefield usage, but the creation and successful deployment of the atomic bomb made that entire idea moot, (also an incident burned the entire test range down), at which point it was simply cancelled.

[@ConsciousAtoms]

It says 301 views for me. Oh the good old days of KZbin! :)

[@RainbowFishSaysHello]

This all seemed very familiar. I think acoustic kitty and the bat bombs were both mentioned in QI once. The fact that it took me a while to figure out if I was remembering your show, or a govenment funded comedy show with professional comedians as guests, says something pretty good about what you're doing! Thanks for another episode of entertainment, I look forward to seeing it on the BBC! P.S. yay! Matt's back! We missed yoouu!

[@shivtekoriginal]

Espionage? Panthers?

[@kendrickfisher949]

Anyone else intrigued by the Hermann grid illusion caused by the window panes behind tom?

[@dbseamz]

The mental image of a cat with a reel-to-reel device looked really familiar to me...I think there was a bit in the Pokemon anime where Meowth is setting up some kind of listening device.

[@royalninja2823]

Someone actually did that cat talking thing, but with a dog. Genuinely trained it to press buttons that say words. Said them in certain orders to convey more complex ideas.

[@ekjswim]

When Chris says "Bats insufficiently motivated" I always see it like Kenneth Branagh writing bout the monster being dead in Frankenstein.

[@maxresdefault_]

Look at the window behind Tom, so trippy...

[@ashcoates3168]

Epic Username the black dot optical illusion affected me too

[@inthegrass11]

iconic moments in techdiff history

[@verdatum]

"The anti-tank dog" "Was it a dog that really really didn't like tanks?" Moments I had to pause so I could finish laughing.

[@ltaproductions7989]

Let us take a moment in silent reflection, Will seaward will be missed.

[@timothymclean]

_Panthers?_

[@LuxiBelle]

Seargant Reckless leading a crack team of military animals, including Acoustic Kitty, Bomb Bat, Bomb Carrier Pigeon and Tank Dog.

[@kevinbarker2082]

Citation Needed needs to have more episodes per season!

[@christalbot8846]

I've been looking forward to this all week

[@papapepepenultimo]

So, this is like the poor-man's QI? Bloody love it! Also, Dinosaur Comics talked about this years ago. Also, in addition to also, Russians got better tuner.

[@maggigefasl6620]

Definitely one of your best episodes so far! I can't remember the last time i've laughed so hard about something

[@Kraigon42]

This has got to be one of the best episodes yet. All of you were on fire for this one. ...oh my god I didn't intend for that, but I'm keeping it.

[@chloezaffran3552]

Oh my lord, I'm not 5 minutes in and I'm already crying from laughter! Garry losing his sh*t over cat flags is absolutely hilarious XD

[@Col_Crunch]

On topic: The US Army actually spent money on researching bomb sniffing elephants... fairly recently.

[@nullFoo]

I actually read a book once based on the bat bomb thing, from the point of view of one of the bats

[@MrDelirium9]

this had me in stitches the whole way through

[@joshuahadams]

I'm a bit surprised that there was no mention of Tom's remote controlled horse.

[@rileysteidel7084]

I have nearly choked five times while watching this and eating. Not only that, they come out just long enough apart for me to not realise I shouldn't eat while watching them.

[@MazeFrame]

Had to pause on several occasions. Great episode!

[@alexwalton9490]

The window behind Tom in this whole series has the disappearing black dot optical illusion thing

[@JouvaMoufette]

Wow, Matt just KILLED it with this one!

[@987946216430]

I really enjoy these with the added excitement of an audience!

[@GreatDinn]

7:05 I have to say, getting a cat to do the research goes a long way to explaining the $20 million. Tuition is expensive enough for people, let alone a cat scientist.

[@oz_jones]

I bet the cat went to Purrdue Uni.

[@JimFortune]

Parachuting the cat. That's ridiculous. Parachuting arsonist bats not so much.

[@hotscottrulz]

This remains my absolute favourite episode of Citation Needed so far! Amazing for such dark concepts...

[@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097]

I'm just proud I knew about the anti-tank dogs from horrible histories.

[@TintagelEmrys]

I always am amused by the different languages each episode is subbed in.

[@DeltaChairlines]

Gary trying to explain the cat flag idea is me trying to explain anything ever.

[@adamkirsopp492]

Why did it take so long for Tom to process “parachuted”

[@9291sam]

This is pure amazing

[@ShubhamBhushanCC]

this is my favorite show on the internet hands down

[@rosiefay7283]

One of the most gruesome, and yet most surreal, episodes I've watched so far!

[@Psychlopic]

I really expected the last prize to be a Mit-sushi-shi Out-flounder

[@matthewharris-levesque5809]

Mitsou-sushi Out-Flounder would be more adept a choice; Marilyn Monroe's cat was named Mitsou. And it sounds better. But Kudos on the "out-flounder". I like that.

[@CaterinaMastrogiacomo]

I remember that Monty Phiton segment! It was like "the mouse orchestra" and it wasn't too long but it was hilarious! God now I feel British

[@DavidGlendinning]

I was waiting for someone to suggest the cat's intended target should have been Chairman Maow.

[@mariasolenardelli3745]

I wonder what Gary would think of those buttons people use to make animals talk

[@damientonkin]

As someone that’s briefly studied behaviourism as part of my degree I’m wondering. How do you train a cat if you’ve bypassed its sense of hunger? Food rewards are about the only thing that work for a cat.

[@GayleForce5]

Is it just me or did Gary's opening line describe everone in quarantine?

[@jorgeaguilar9166]

I take the prize as a sort of final jeopardy. This is such a great show, you guys are talented internetainers.

[@cuddlestsq2730]

Cats with antennae launched into space, catellites.

[@Memesdopb]

I would love to see this as a podcast!

[@sudoscoobs1373]

I think this is my favorite episode of CN. And thats really saying something with how good they are.

[@TheChemistryTutor]

This is the only one, that wakes me up and I start laughing about Gary's cat signs

[@xplinux22]

You never discussed the successful remote controlled animal experiments in the end!

[@stuffanthings]

The bat bombs were cancelled because the Atom bombs were ready

[@timothymclean]

The whole "burned down one of our own airbases" thing probably didn't help. Even though that should have demonstrated its effectiveness...

[@viiviketomaki7284]

The a-bomb and the b-bomb.

[@ThePixel1983]

And they were both meant for the same target. The idea of bat bombs works best with buildings mostly constructed of wood. Like in Japan. Good luck putting out a thousand fires under a thousand roofs at the same time.

[@Elementalism.]

you know how parents say your cat went to live with people on some far away farm? That sounds an awful lot like what the CIA chief is saying... "no, the 20 million $ cat wasn't hit with a car, it went off to live with a family far far away"

[@scottsmith4204]

The funny part about Gary's cat flags to talk is people have now done that with dogs except they use buttons.

[@RaidValency]

THIS IS THE GREATEST START TO AN EPISODE EVER XD

[@mosby5554]

this is so funny, and its actually my birthday XD